October 25, 2017

Victoria has become the first state in Australia to have its
renewable energy target written into law, after the Labor Andrews government’s
Renewable Energy (Jobs & Investment) Bill was passed by Parliament on
Friday.

State energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio said on Friday the
governments’ VRET of 25 per cent renewable energy by 2020, and 40 per cent
by 2025, had passed the Legislative Council with 20 votes to 18, and despite
not winning a single vote from the opposition Coalition party.

The “historic” vote comes amid growing confusion and concern
about what the federal Coaltion’s National Energy Guarantee means for
Australia’s energy sector, and particularly for the renewable energy industry,
with no national renewable energy target in place beyond 2020, and the
suggestion development could go backwards under the new plan, resulting in just
28-36 per cent renewables by 2030.

The state governments, in particular, have reacted with
frustration to the NEG, which – as
Giles Parkinson pointed out here on Friday – is a decision by the
Turnbull government to essentially rely on the same state-based renewables
targets it has so often derided as reckless.

All of Australia’s Labor states and territories have their
own renewable energy targets, each of them more ambitious than the federal
government’s goal of 20 per cent by 2020.

Queensland and the Northern Territory are aiming for 50 per
cent by 2030; South Australia is already there but looking to add more; while
the ACT has already signed contracts with wind and solar farms to take it to
100 per cent renewables by 2020.

Victoria’s own target, now legislated, is expected to cut
the average cost of power for households by around $30 a year; $2,500 a year
for medium businesses and $140,000 a year for large companies. It is also
forecast to drive a 16 per cent reduction in the state’s electricity sector
emissions by 2034-35, and create up to 11,000 jobs.

Despite these projected benefits, the state targets have
been used regularly by the federal government as scapegoats for rising
electricity prices and the closure of ageing coal plants – an irony that is not
lost on the states, particularly considering the federal Coalition needs their
approval for the NEG to be put into place, because it requires significant
changes to the National Electricity Market rules.

The Victorian upper house has just passed the #VRET — Vic getting
on with it while Turnbull plays politics

“Renewable energy creates jobs and will help drive down
power prices for Victorian households and businesses,” said D’Ambrosio, in a
statement on Friday.

“These legislated targets remain the one constant for
renewable energy investor confidence in Australia and the message is clear —
Victoria is open for business.”

The Clean Energy Council was quick to welcome the
news, and said the VRET would provide major investment opportunities for the
state into the next decade.

“The VRET provides a green light for our industry to deliver
cheap, clean and reliable energy for all Victorians,” said CEC CEO Kane
Thornton on Friday.

“The easiest way to reduce power prices is through clear
policy and more power generation. The VRET delivers on both these fronts and
the Victorian Renewable Energy Auction Scheme will kick off in just a few weeks
to deliver up to 650MW of new renewable energy projects.”

Green groups also welcomed the passage of the VRET,
particularly in light of policy developments in Canberra.

Wonderful news: Victoria has just passed a Renewable Energy
Target of 40% by 2025! That’s what leadership on energy looks like!

“In a week when the federal government has been playing politics with our
climate, this vote signals that Victoria is getting on with the job of
repowering our state with clean energy,” said Environment Victoria CEO Mark
Wakeham.

But Wakeham also expressed his concern that the state
Coalition appeared to be in lock-step with its federal counterpart, and had
threatened to scrap the legislation if elected next year.

“It is deeply disappointing that Matthew Guy’s Coalition is
again denying Victorians lower power prices, clean energy and jobs and
investment across the state,” he said.

“This week’s antics in Parliament suggest that the recent
track record of Coalition attacks on our environment will continue through to
next year’s state election. In the past 12 months, Matthew Guy’s Coalition has
voted against a new Climate Change Act, voted against encouraging more rooftop
solar, and now voted against large-scale renewable energy – the cheapest
and cleanest form of new electricity.

“Victorians are sick and tired of Coalition energy wars.
We’re ready to embrace a booming renewable energy industry that cuts prices and
pollution. If the Coalition wish to remain relevant to Victorian voters then
they need to get on board with Victoria’s clean energy future,” Wakeham said.

The state Coalition party, meanwhile, continues to oppose
the renewables target, which opposition leader Matthew Guy has repeatedly
described as “Daniel Andrews’ reckless, go-it-alone VRET.”

And while the LNP appears to have made little comment about
Friday’s passage of the Bill, it has previously vowed to have it scrapped if
successful in next year’s state election.

“This is a bill which is about making life harder for
ordinary Victorians, because we have to understand the human cost of the moral
and political vanity that is contained within this bill,” said
shadow Treasurer Michael O’Brien in Parliament late last month.

“Labor and the Greens say, ‘This is fantastic. Let’s go back
to the Stone Age. Let’s try to get rid of electricity. It’s far better for
people to feel the moral pain of paying higher bills, because that saves the
planet somehow’ — what utter garbage,” O’Brien said.

“This is why this is a bad bill. It is why we will not only
oppose it but, if this has the misfortune of passing this Parliament, we will
repeal it.”

Friends of the Earth – which has been one of the key drivers
of the VRET Bill – was also critical of Guy’s opposition, and said it ignored
that renewables enjoyed strong support among Liberal party voters.